A house floats in the Pacific Ocean off the Japanese coast

A Japanese home is seen adrift in the Pacific Ocean in this photograph taken on March 13, 2011 and released on March 14. Ships and aircrafts from the US Navy’s Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group are searching for survivors in the coastal waters near Sendai, Japan, in the wake of 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that officials say claimed at least 10,000 lives.

MSN’s Robert Hood says: As a picture editor, I’m exposed to thousands of news photographs each day. Images from events like the earthquake and tsunami in Japan begin to look the same. But occasionally we see one that is exceptional. For me this picture symbolizes the personal loss and epic scale of hopelessness that’s beginning to sink in.